Balto
Balto is a 1995 American live-action/animated Alaskan historical adventure drama film directed by Simon Wells, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is loosely based on a true story about the dog of the same name who helped save children from the diphtheria epidemic in the 1925 serum run to Nome. The live-action portions of the film were filmed at Central Park in New York City. The film was the final animated feature produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio. Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Bonne Radford acted as executive producers on the film. Although the film's theatrical run was overshadowed by the success of the competing Pixar film Toy Story, its subsequent strong sales on home video led to two direct-to-video sequels: Balto II: Wolf Quest (2002) and Balto III: Wings of Change (2004). Plot In New York City, an elderly woman and her granddaughter are walking through Central Park, looking for a memorial statue. As they seat themselves for a rest, the grandmother tells a story about Nome, Alaska back in 1925, which shifts the film from live-action to animation. Balto, a wolfdog hybrid, lives on the outskirts of Nome with his adoptive father, a snow goose named Boris, and two polar bears, Muk and Luk. Being half-breed, Balto is ridiculed by dogs and humans alike. His only friend in town is a red husky named Jenna who Balto has a crush on and is challenged by the town's favorite sled dog, Steele, a fierce and arrogant Alaskan Malamute. That night, all the children, including Jenna's owner, Rosie, fall ill with diphtheria. Severe winter weather conditions prevent medicine from being brought by air or sea, and the closest rail line ends in Zenana. A dog race is held to determine the best-fit dogs for a sled dog team to get the medicine. Balto enter and wins, but Steele exposes his wolf-dog heritage, resulting in him being disqualified. The team departs that night with Steele in the lead and picks up the medicine successfully, but on the way back, conditions deteriorate and the disoriented team ends up stranded at the base of a steep slope with the musher knocked unconscious. When the word reaches Nome, Balto sets out in search of them with Boris, Muk and Luk. On the way, they are attacked by a huge grizzly bear, but Jenna, who followed their tracks, intervenes. The bear pursues Balto out onto a frozen lake, where it falls through the ice and drowns, while Muk and Luk save Balto from a similar fate. However, Jenna got injured and cannot continue on. Balto instructs Boris and the polar bears to take her back home while he continues on alone. Balto eventually finds the team, but Steele does not want his help and attacks him until he loses his balance and falls off a cliff. Balto takes charge of the team, but Steele, refusing to concede defeat, throws them off the trail and they lose their way again. While attempting to save the medicine from falling down a cliff, Balto himself falls. Back in Nome, Jenna is explaining Balto's mission to the other dogs when Steele returns, claiming the entire team, including Balto, is dead. However, Jenna sees through his deception and assures Balto will return with the medicine. Using a trick Balto showed her earlier, she places broken colored glass bottles on the outskirts of town and shines a lantern on them to simulate the lights of an aurora, hoping it will help guide Balto home. When Balto regains consciousness, he is ready to give up hope, but when a large, white wolf appears and he notices the medicine crate still intact nearby, he realizes that his part-wolf heritage is a strength, not a weakness and drags the medicine back up the cliff to the waiting team. Using his advanced senses, Balto is able to filter out the false markers Steele created. After encountering further challenges, and losing only one vial, Balto and the sled team finally make it back to Nome. A pity-playing Steele is exposed as a liar and abandoned by the other dogs, ruining his reputation. Reunited with Jenna and his friends, Balto earns respect from both the dogs and the humans. He visits a cured Rosie, who thanks him for saving her. Back in the present day, the elderly woman and her granddaughter finally found the memorial commemorating Balto, and she explains that the Iditarod trail covers the same path that Balto and his team took from Nenana to Nome. The woman, who is actually Rosie, repeats the same line, Thank you, Balto. I would have been lost without you, before walking off to join her granddaughter and her Siberian Husky, Blaze. The Balto statue stands proudly in the sunlight. Cast * Kevin Bacon as Balto * Bob Hoskins as Boris * Bridget Fonda as Jenna * Juliette Brewer as young Rosie * Miriam Margolyes as old Rosie (in the live-action) * Jim Cummings as Steele * Phil Collins as Muk and Luk * Jack Angel, Danny Mann and Robbie Rist as Nikki, Kaltag and Star (respectively) * Sandra Dickinson as Dixie, Sylvie and Rosie's mother * Lola Bates-Campbell as Rosie's granddaughter (in the live-action) * William Roberts as Rosie's father * Donald Sinden as the Doctor * Bill Bailey as the Butcher * Garrick Hagon as the Telegraph Operator * Frank Welker as the Grizzly Bear Songs * Reach for the Light (end credits) (performed by Steve Winwood) International releases For information about international dubs and releases, Balto/International. Category:1995 films Category:1990s American animated films Category:Films produced by Steve Hickner Category:Films directed by Simon Wells Category:Film scores by James Horner Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Half-Disney Feature Animation Category:Non-Disney animated films